Does it Matter if a Computer Jokes?

Abstract

The goal here was to determine whether computer interfaces are capable of social influence via humor. Users interacted with a natural language capable virtual agent that told persuasive information, and they were given the option to use information from the dialogue in order to complete a problem-solving task. Individuals interacting with an ostensibly humorous virtual agent were influenced by it such that those who judged the agent unfunny were less likely to be persuaded and departed from the agents suggestions. We discuss the implications of these results for HCI involving natural language systems and virtual agents.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 07, 2011
Accession Number
AD1158416

Entities

People

  • Cade Mccall
  • James Blascovich
  • Jonathan Gratch
  • Peter Khooshabeh
  • Sudeep Gandhe

Organizations

  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • University of Southern California

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cognition
  • Cognitive Systems Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Demography
  • Engineering
  • Graphical User Interface
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Language
  • Military Research
  • Natural Languages
  • Personality
  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Survival
  • Test And Evaluation
  • User Interface

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Educational Psychology